A Fife man caught with a meat cleaver in his sock has been jailed for a knife attack.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard previously Stuart Copeland, 40, and a woman were caught by police carrying weapons inside a block of flats in Lochgelly’s Lumphinnans Road on May 3 2021.
The woman’s defence lawyer, Stephen Morrison, said his client went there with the intention of finding an individual in order to “scare” them.
The court heard previously the woman was found in a common stairwell carrying a knife with a three-inch blade in one hand and a metal pole in the other.
Seconds later, Copeland came down the stairs and was found to have a meat cleaver tucked into his right sock.
After being arrested, the woman told police the knife was only a “prop”.
Details of the woman’s identity and why the pair attended the property have not been published for legal reasons.
Copeland, an inmate at Perth Prison, admitted carrying a meat cleaver and the woman pled guilty to possessing a knife and a metal pole.
Copeland also previously pled guilty to a separate offence of brandishing a knife at a man, struggling with him and striking him on the hand with the blade to his injury on December 30 2019 in Ballingry’s Westwood Crescent.
Sheriff Susan Duff jailed Copeland for a total of nearly 30 months – 17 months and three weeks for the knife assault and 12 months for carrying the meat cleaver.
The woman was sentenced to a community payback order of supervision for two years.
Life sentence for beast
Steven McKee, 49, who once tried to murder the mother of his children, has been given a life sentence for trying to destroy a woman’s life by blackmailing and repeatedly raping her in St Andrews and Glasgow. He was placed on a Order for Lifelong Restriction, meaning he will not be freed until the parole board is satisfied he is no longer a danger to the public.
Bottle threat teen
A teenage girl who threatened police officers in Perth while holding a broken bottle has been given a chance to prove she can stay out of trouble.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named, caused a disturbance on Scott Street on January 2.
She appeared at the city’s sheriff court and admitted a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, likely to cause fear or alarm.
The court heard police were called to Perth city centre just before 1am, following concerns about the girl’s behaviour.
She was traced by officers who asked her to stop but she kept walking, then turned around and said she was going “stab or slash” police if they came closer.
“Officers noticed that she was holding a broken bottle,” said fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson.
The accused was restrained and taken into custody.
Solicitor David Holmes said things had improved for the youth since the incident.
Sheriff William Wood deferred sentence until March, next year for her to be of good behaviour
Not good neighbours
A cyclist deliberately barged into a former neighbour after seeing him in the street.
Jamie Fogarty appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit the assault.
His victim had just left the Coral bookies in Methil on May 8 and was walking home with a shopping bag on Wellesley Road.
Fogarty, 23, cycled past him and began shouting.
He doubled back and cycled back past again, before circling on the road at Sandwell Street and mounting the pavement.
Father-of-one Fogarty then cycled into the man, causing him to stumble and drop his shopping bag.
He made his way home and contacted police.
Solicitor Martin McGuire said Fogarty, of Erskine Road in Buckhaven had been in a neighbour dispute for some time.
Sheriff Derek Reekie fined the first offender £320. Sent from
One-punch thug
An arrest warrant has been issued for a one-punch thug who knocked his neighbour unconscious during a flare-up outside his Coupar Angus flat.
Kieran Fletcher appeared via video link at Perth Sheriff Court in June and admitted the assault at Murray’s Court on December 17, last year.
The court heard how the 30-year-old’s girlfriend was “sprayed with blood” when he lashed out at neighbour Neil Hutton.
Fletcher also admitted having a knife in public.
Sheriff William Wood issued a warrant for Fletcher’s arrest after he failed to turn up for sentencing.
